In prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,449 granted Feb. 9, 1988, which is assigned to Dimensional Visions Group, Ltd., a system is disclosed for taking and producing three-dimensional photographs. The preferred embodiment disclosed in that patent uses a single film-type camera at a plurality of positions or a separate film type camera at each of said positions for photographing an object. The system operates such that the single camera used at each position or the dedicated cameras at the plurality of positions are mounted such that their film planes are in the same plane at the time that each takes its picture. The picture taken by each of the cameras has the same field of view with the same field of view extremities relative to the object and the same focus point on the object relative to a line from the center of the lens. Due to the spatial positioning of the various positions at which the pictures are taken, a number of negatives are produced which spatially correspond to the different camera locations.
By suitably processing the negatives of the photographs taken and utilizing a lenticular sheet on the top thereof, superior three-dimensional photographs of the object can be produced.
The system of the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,449 differs from other systems for producing three-dimensional photographs, e.g., taking two pictures from different angles through lenses with different colored filters and providing the viewer with glasses having different color lenses to view the photographs; or using a plurality of cameras located side by side on the same image plane directed straight ahead so that the optical center for each camera is not the same and a slightly different picture of the same object is taken by each camera (Wah U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,585); or one using a plurality of cameras spaced around the object in the central focal line of each camera's lens passing through the center of the object whose picture is to be taken (McBride U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,669).
While the system of the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,449 is fully operative, it is somewhat inflexible from the point of view that more or less conventional cameras are used in which paper-type negatives (e.g., silver halide type negatives) are produced. There is no easy and efficient way to centrally monitor that each of the cameras is truly in registration at all times so that the desired field of view is being photographed. In addition, the composition of the film negatives from the point of view of color or other film negative and developed photograph characteristics, is limited solely by the optical constraints of the film cameras, the film, and the film developing processing, and photograph printing apparatus.